How important is Isaiah?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Vort said:

Now there's a book that just sails on right past me. I want to understand it. I try. But to me, it reads like a fantasy novel written by someone on LSD. (No disrespect intended; the fault is mine, not the book's.) I will be rereading it in a month or two, and I sincerely hope I get something more out of it than I've managed to glean thus far.

This reminds me of that quote from Star Trek IV: "I think he did a little too much LDS".

[Grunt]

Sigh. Too much scripture, not enough time.  

[Jane_Doe]

24 minutes ago, Grunt said:

Sigh. Too much scripture, not enough time.  

That's why studying it is supposed to take a lifetime!

[Traveler]

 

Isaiah has been a scripture that the more I study the better I understand but at the same time – the more I realize that I have not understood correctly and the more I realize how insufficient and lacking my understanding is concerning the revelations of G-d.  I have 5 different versions of the Bible in my personal library plus an additional direct translation of the Isaiah scroll found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.   Here are some of my thoughts:

    1. There are some scriptures that I call synoptic variant style revelations covering the same divine concept.  For example, Abraham Chapter 3 and Doctrine and Covenants Section 88 – referencing how the order of the universe testifies that there is a G-d.  What is interesting with these scripture is the scientific basis of how the universe is ordered according to different views or traditions of science.  @Vort and @Anddenex  made reference to how Isaiah and the Book of Revelation are difficult to understand.  It is my understanding that Isaiah and Revelation are another example of synoptic variant style revelation covering the same divine concept.  In short Isaiah is critical in understanding Revelation and vise versa.

    2. Last night I was reading the Book of Mormon in the Book of Mormon.  Moroni finishes his father’s book and in Chapter 8 talks about prophesies concerning the last days and how such prophesies are pointed directly to the saints in the latter-days living on the American continent.   In verse 23 Moroni declares that to understand how the L-rd fulfils his promises we must “Search the prophecies of Isaiah” – I assume this is a particular reference to the parts of Isaiah not included by Nephi in the plates created by Moroni’s father Mormon.

    3. Isaiah is a revelation of the works of G-d from the beginning to the end.  (See Isaiah 46:10).  If someone understand Isaiah and gets a lot out of it – nothing concerning the Saints that happens will be a surprise to them – they will know in advance and understand how the unfolding events fulfill G-d’s promises.    If most of you are like me – you only understand a little of all this and only after it has happened – the great surprise for me is how exact and precise Isaiah’s prophesies are.

    4. The best single help for me in understanding Isaiah is becoming educated from a scholastic understanding of the Ancient Hebrew poetic structures – especially the Chaism and Bifid structures.

    5. It is my understanding that Isaiah will be an enigma or illusive symbolic confusion without the covenant of the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the person being loyal to their covenant with G-d.  In our King James version of Isaiah 7:9 (end of verse 9) reads “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”  A direct translation of  the same from the Dead Sea Scrolls reads, “If you do not believe [understand] it [it is] because you are not loyal to [your covenant with] him.”

 

The Traveler

Edited October 15, 2017 by Traveler

[Guest]

I am reading Isaiah right now, and I am getting just about nothing out of it.  I am sorely, sorely tempted to abandon it and go back to the Book of Mormon, where the moral and doctrinal lessons are real, applicable, accessible, and actually enriching for my life.

[Jane_Doe]

26 minutes ago, DoctorLemon said:

I am reading Isaiah right now, and I am getting just about nothing out of it.  I am sorely, sorely tempted to abandon it and go back to the Book of Mormon, where the moral and doctrinal lessons are real, applicable, accessible, and actually enriching for my life.

Which chapters are you working on right now?  Maybe we could help you out.

[Guest]

Just finished 24!

The problem I have with a lot of the Old Testament is we are often dealing with very simple and often sparse gospel messages dressed in very flowery language.  I know Isaiah meant a great deal to Nephi because, well, he didn't have the books of Nephi to read.  But after experiencing the Book of Mormon and New Testament, I have a hard time getting a lot out of the Old Testament in general.

[Jane_Doe]

16 minutes ago, DoctorLemon said:

Just finished 24!

The problem I have with a lot of the Old Testament is we are often dealing with very simple and often sparse gospel messages dressed in very flowery language.  I know Isaiah meant a great deal to Nephi because, well, he didn't have the books of Nephi to read.  But after experiencing the Book of Mormon and New Testament, I have a hard time getting a lot out of the Old Testament in general.

I hear you about the OT being hard to get through.  Like Numbers traditionally puts me straight to sleep.  But then I know other folks who get a ton out of Numbers.  Isaiah is one I get a ton out of.  Like chapter 24 is a kick butt chapter about the Lord and His cleansing of evil and re-birth of everything as His completely glorified.  Tomorrow I'll do a write-up on it for you, see if that helps (don't have time tonight, sorry). 

[Vort]

Pay special attention to Jeremiah for your Book of Mormon crossover reading. It really lays out the situation in Jerusalem that Lehi was dealing with.

[askandanswer]

In my opinion, Isaiah could be ten times better than it is, and it would still only be one tenth as good as what we have from any of the prophets of the current dispensation, whose teachings are clear, relevant and timely, and generally don't need much in the way of interpretation.

[Sunday21]

I have a copy of ‘Isaiah made Easier’ by Ridges. This book did indeed make Isaiah a lot easier! Abe books, the online used book store, has a lot of lds literature for very little money. I love that Ridges includes the entire text of the relevant scripture so you don’t need to flip back and forth. Ridges’ interpretations are not the only interpretations but his analysis gives you a solid foundation to work from.